Life in the Skies
The King of All Skies Three hundred years ago, a man declared himself absolute ruler. He installed himself as King of All Skies in the castle above Dalaam’s capital mountain, Centrespire. He raised the royal guard up to be his personal military and brutally cut down any opposition. He still reigns on the highest peak in the centre of the world, somehow impervious to time and the rolling soars that twist and weave through the skies. The Fortuna Marking the end of the Age of Rule, one ship and its crew—the Fortuna—stood tall against the King’s might when no others would, and somehow won. This ship has become a legend, and rumour of its passing still sparks surges of rebellion and piracy. The King's Blues The King’s royal guard, clad in bright blue, act as the King’s judge, jury, and executioners as they carry out his order across the skies. The Blues are equally feared and hated outside of Dalaam, where they are known to be well trained, bloodthirsty, merciless, and utterly corrupt. Spire life Life is simple and rustic, survival and prosperity on most spires being paramount to luxury and leisure. Most strive for enough food to last them the winters, or to find companionship, or to not be eaten by the wildlife native to their particular rock in the sky. It is only in the larger settlements, towns and cities that people’s lives get complicated. Everyone faces difficulties, the most obvious being misstepping and falling off their spire to tumble to the cloudfloor below. Merchants & Sailors Settlements need to talk, need to trade, and need to communicate with one another, and an endless stream of merchants, couriers and sailors take to the sky to ferry information, goods, services, and people back and forth. Every settlement has a lively dock, always bustling and busy with those looking for work, toiling at their labour, or just eager to escape their small slice of life to find something else out among the soars. Explorers & Adventurers With an Age of Storms so recently ended, nations, companies, and merchants alike are all eager to learn which settlements survived, where new spires have been found, and what the storms have changed. Trade routes are re-established and travel across the skies resumed. Maps are constantly being updated, and the Royal Cartographers Guild pays well for new discoveries, or reports on previously known settlements. Explorers and adventurers are in high demand. Anyone able and willing can make a wage taking jobs across the skies. Most taverns host job boards for their settlements, with the proprietor acting as bank and middleman. Piracy & Privateering The difference is often one of flags, papers, and whose cannons fire first. Airships rain cannon shot at one another as crewsy battle crew for profit and survival. Letters of Mark are easy enough to come by for any notable captain, while all a pirate needs is a span of black fabric and the will to attack ships and settlements alike. Languages Most who sail the skies speak Common, which is widespread though accents vary in dialect by sky. High Common, the archaic root of Common, is spoken by the Ushuan Magi and those casting their rituals and spells. The native language of Avorals is Cheep, while Ursas speak Growl. Humans are able to speak both, though each takes considerable time and money to learn. Medua Thinkspeak is not a language, but a limited form of telepathy, which acts as the native language of wherever the Medua first appeared, most likely Common. Medua can understand intention and motive without fluent knowledge of a language or dialect, making them excellent translators. Medua Thinkspeak Heard in the mind’s eye rather than through the ears, Medua communicate with others and each other through Thinkspeak, a kind of localized telepathy. With training, they've learned how to parse visuals—as well as hijack other senses—important as the other three races rely heavily on sight. Thinkspeak can initiate conversation by offering dialogue (tagged with a superficial emotion). If the recipient agrees, dialogue as per spoken language. The hail may be ignored, though persistent attempts can become annoying, in the same way that someone pulling at your sleeve constantly becomes aggravating. Roleplaying Medua Thinkspeak can be done several ways. Speaking like normal is the easiest, only instead of speaking, the character “thinks” at others. Between Medua, Thinkspeak is a series of ideas, emotions, and concepts. Medua have no written language of their own, as they see writing and other languages as grossly imperfect. This can flow into roleplay, with characters stating emotions or concepts verbally along with or in place of dialogue.